CNN
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Former President Donald Trump admitted on tape at a 2021 meeting that he had kept “secret” military information that he had not declassified, according to a transcript of the audio recording obtained by CNN.
“As president, I could have declassified myself, but now I can’t,” Trump says, according to the transcript.
CNN obtained a transcript of part of the meeting where Trump discusses a classified Pentagon document about the Iran attack. In the audio recording, which CNN previously reported prosecutors obtained, Trump says he did not declassify the document he is referring to, according to the transcript.
Trump was indicted Thursday on seven counts in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. Details of the indictment have not been made public, so it is unknown if any of the seven charges relate to the recorded meeting in 2021. Still, the tape is significant because it shows that Trump understood that the records he had with him at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House remained classified.
Trump has publicly claimed that all the documents he took with him to his Florida residence are declassified, while he has blasted the special counsel’s investigation as a political witch hunt trying to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign .
CNN first reported last week that prosecutors had obtained the audio recording of Trump’s 2021 meeting at his compound in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the former chief of staff’s autobiography. Trump’s cabinet, Mark Meadows, as well as aides hired by the former president. including communications specialist Margo Martin.
The transcript of the audio recording suggests that Trump is showing the document he is discussing to those in the room. Multiple sources have told CNN that the recording captures the noise of the paper, as if Trump were shaking the document, although it is unclear if it was the actual document from Iran.
“Secret This is confidential information. Look, look at this,” Trump says at one point, according to the transcript. “This was made by the military and given to me.”
The reporter notes a “tiny ray of hope” for Trump in the detail of the indictment
Trump was complaining at the meeting of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. The meeting took place soon after The New Yorker published a story by Susan Glasser detailing how, in the final days of Trump’s presidency, Milley instructed the joint chiefs to make sure Trump did not issue illegal orders and that any concerns were reported .
“Well, with Milley, uh, let me see this, I’ll show you an example. He said he wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that surprising? I have a big pile of papers, this just came out. Look. This was him Trump says, according to the transcript. “I was presented with this, that’s not on the record, but, I was presented with this. This was him. This was the Department of Defense and him. We looked at some of them. This was him. I didn’t do this, this was him”.
Trump continues: “All kinds of things: long pages, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t it amazing? That totally wins my case, you know. Except it’s very confidential. Secret. This it’s classified information. Look, look at this.”
“Secret” and “confidential” are two classification levels for sensitive government documents.
In March, prosecutors subpoenaed Trump for the document referenced in the 2021 recording. Trump’s lawyers provided some documents related to Iran and Milley in response to the subpoena, but could not find the document in Yes.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating Trump for mishandling classified documents brought to Mar-a-Lago and obstructing the investigation. Trump’s attorney said the former president received a Justice Department subpoena to appear in court Tuesday in South Florida.
The Mar-a-Lago investigation is one of two led by Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Smith’s investigation into efforts to nullify the 2020 election is still ongoing.
